#made4math 8.13.2012

My school recently opened a beautiful new "Collegiate Academy," which I have the privilege to be a part of.  With this privilege means that we are supposed to keep our gorgeous new classrooms feeling like a college.  No clutter; no posters on the walls; actually, nothing on the walls except our degrees.  While I know most teachers would be dismayed by these rules, I am breathing a sigh of relief.  Since my only teaching experience is at the college level, I was FREAKING OUT about having my own classroom.  But, when I found out that I was set free from the cheesy educational posters, I was able to (fairly) easily put together a classroom--with the help my wonderful husband--that hopefully still feels like a college classroom-ish.

So,  my first Made4Math Monday!

Probably my favorite part of the classroom is a little homage I paid to some nifty mathematicians.  I used some of my old textbooks as stands and bought three frames at the dollar store.

Beneath each picture is a quote from the mathematician:
Math Quotes for Frames

Also along that counter, I have a place for students to turn in make-up work and borrow annoyingly bright pencils (in hopes that they will be returned):

I got the template for the cube made out of playing cards here.

So, that's the back of the classroom.  In the front of the classroom, I have a SMART Board with two white boards on either side of it.  I have somewhat ambitious plans to introduce my students to the history of mathematics, so this is what one of my white boards looks like:

About every month, my plan is to introduce a new mathematician.  Any student who brings a paragraph on that mathematician will earn some homework bonus points.  In addition, any student who is willing to share one fact s/he found and write it on the board will receive a point for her/his class.  The class with the most points at the end of the quarter will receive some kind of prize.  My principal said she may even be able to get me some gift cards!

Here's what the bonus homework cards will look like.  It's a little cheesy (ah!), but it was one of the few templates I liked that VistaPrint.com would give 250 to you for free.  Say it with me, fah-ree!

Will I ever get used to "Mrs. Peterson"?  I just don't know.

To the left of that white board, I have an easel with five white poster boards (one for each class).  Before each test, I'm hoping to have each class summarize the big idea(s) of the unit, in their own words, symbols, or pictures.  At the end of the year, we may have some cool looking posters!  Maybe.

And, lastly, a good friend of mine--who has much better handwriting than I do--wrote up these classroom expectations for my bulletin board:

So, that's my classroom!  It's simple, but it's me.